GIRLS BASKETBALL

In order to put an end to a four-game losing streak Friday, Lake Zurich needed to put an end to St. Francis' drives to the basket.

The Bears clamped down on defense in the second half for a 62-51 victory in Suburban Holiday Showcase pool play at Trinity in River Forest.

"We were kind of in a slump," Lake Zurich senior guard Cathryne Spear said. "We wanted to get out of it, move on to the next game and forget about it."

Lake Zurich (9-5) started the season 8-1 but lost consecutive games to Zion-Benton, Stevenson, No. 15 Loyola and No. 6 Trinity. St. Francis (1-8), which returned one starter from last season, threatened to make it five in a row early in the game.

After scoring fewer than 20 points in each of their tournament losses to Trinity and Loyola, the Spartans took a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. St. Francis junior Alyssa Fernandez scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half.

The Lake Zurich defense then awoke. Spear had two steals during a 16-1 Lake Zurich run in the third and fourth quarters that gave the Bears a 56-38 lead with 5 minutes, 12 seconds to play. Lake Zurich senior Dori Darras scored six points during the spurt.

"We helped out on defense a little more," said Spear, who scored 12 points. "We were letting them drive. They had a lot of fast breaks and we weren't helping each other out."

St. Francis committed seven turnovers in a span of six minutes in the third and fourth quarters and didn't recover.

"They put a lot of pressure out on the perimeter on us," St. Francis coach Mike Phillips said. "We got tired, and they turned the pressure up. We gave a lot of effort in the first half and kind of ran out of steam."